Cut Your Grocery Bill
If you feel like a huge chunk of your income goes to your local grocery store, you are probably right. You should think about saving your money as a competition. Sometimes you are competing against the opposition that wants to take your money. Sometimes it’s a friendly competition to do better than people you know. Sometimes you are competing against yourself to save rather than spend. This is the mindset that is going to drive results.
Compete against yourself to save rather than spend.
These 3 tips can help you beat yourself by saving what you would have otherwise spent. It can also help you beat the opposition (in this case the grocery store) by giving them less of your money while taking away more of what you need. If you’re intrigued, here is what you need to know.
Shop Online
Shopping online can not only save a lot of valuable time, it can also save you money. You are far more likely to stick to your shopping list. If you don’t have a compelling loyalty to a specific grocery store, pick a few that are close by and compare their websites. The ability to easily navigate categories, save common items for future orders, and take advantage of exclusive deals are the major factors to consider. Once you’ve filled your cart, all that’s left is to get the groceries. My local grocery store Harris Teeter offers 2 options. I can pick up at the closest store, or have it delivered right to my house. What’s even better, I can order my pickup to whatever store I’m going to be near. Even if you are someone who likes to physically browse the store, you can still make a pickup order for your basics and then browse the store for specialty items while they load up your car.
Plan Your Meals, Cook in Bulk
When you fail to plan, you are planning to fail. That principle applies heavily for your grocery spending. Entering the store without a specific plan will cause you to make impulsive choices, and you will lose out on the ability to leverage common ingredients.
When you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.
As a first step, list out all the dinners you like to make, and bundle the ones in sub-lists that share at least 2 common ingredients. A good goal is having 3 bundles of dinners for a week. If you want to take it a step further, create a shopping plan that centers on cooking a certain type of meal in bulk. For example, you might want to get 5 pieces of chicken, a few cans of corn and black beans, and a couple pieces of salmon. Fire up the grill on Sunday, and portion it all out in Tupperware. Now you have lunches for the week and a much smaller grocery bill.
Spend Less and Get More
There are so many ways to save on food and get free money when you know where to look. Start by using coupons. If you haven’t tried this, it’s not just for your grandmother. You can save real money, and many of these food brands are putting out good coupons in the hopes of making you their customer. Take advantage of it. Start by getting your local Sunday newspaper. Go online and check out coupons.com and Valpak.com for printable coupons. Just google grocery store coupons and you will be shocked how much you find. Also, don’t be afraid to buy the generic store brands for common items. I may never go with generic ketchup personally, but things like pasta, salt, and sugar will save you a bunch. When comparing similar items that are different prices, don’t forget to compare the unit prices. It’s the cost per ounce or pound that will ultimately get you the biggest bang for your buck.